Sophie pulled a booklet out of her purse. "I finished putting this together. It's the proof copy before they send the final order to the printer."

Megan read the t.i.tle aloud. "The Greatest Love Stories of All Time: An Annotated Bibliography. Now available at your local library. Compiled and edited by Sophie Sullivan." She grinned at her friend. "This is fantastic. Congratulations."

"Thanks." Sophie made an unexpected face. "I'm really pleased with it, although I feel like the t.i.tle is a little misleading."

"Why?"

"Not all of these stories have a happy ending. Of course, it doesn't make them any less compelling."

"Just more real," Megan said softly.

Sophie slipped the book back into her bag. "You must miss him."

This time, Megan couldn't stop her eyes from going big. Oh G.o.d, Sophie knew about Gabe! She opened her mouth to say something, to try to get Sophie to understand that she wasn't trying to hurt her brother, but before she could find any words that made sense, her friend was saying, "I wish I had gotten to meet your husband."

Relief knocked through Megan so quickly she actually slumped back in her seat.

But Sophie misread her reaction. "I'm sorry. I should know better than to bring him up. After all, my mother never loved anyone but my father."

Megan frowned. "Didn't your father pa.s.s away when you were a child?"

Sophie nodded. "I was two."

Megan quickly did the math. More than two decades. That was a long time to be alone. Too long, especially since the last of Mary Sullivan's kids had grown up and moved out a good five years ago.

"Surely your mother has dated, right?"

"She's dated a few men over the years. Some of them were really nice." Sophie shrugged. "But I honestly don't think she ever let herself get too close to any of them."

"Why do you think that is? Would your father not have wanted her to find love again?"

"I don't know," Sophie said softly. "But from the way Marcus and Smith talk about him, I don't think he was that kind of man." Her friend looked up at her with an expression so similar to Gabe's that Megan almost dropped her fork. "I think she was afraid. Afraid to love and lose again."

"But she seems so fearless with all of you. Even with Gabe, whose job is so dangerous." But even as she said it, Megan understood why Mary Sullivan let her children live the lives they chose. "I used to watch Summer on the playground and cringe as she'd shimmy up a pole to the top of the play structure and fling herself onto the roof. She was so much smaller than the other kids, but she had no fear. She still doesn't-and every day I prepare myself a little more for when she tells me she wants to be a sharpshooter or a race car driver."

Sophie laughed at that, and while Megan knew she was at risk for showing her hand regarding her growing feelings for Gabe, she needed to know. "How do you deal with the thought that Gabe might not come home from a fire one day?"

Her friend thought about it for a moment. "Marcus could probably grow apples instead of grapes. Chase could paint instead of taking pictures." Sophie shook her head. "But when we were kids, all Gabe ever wanted to be for Halloween was a firefighter."

Megan raised an eyebrow at that. "Seriously? Every single year?"

Sophie grinned. "He's nothing if not focused."

Megan felt herself blush. She knew firsthand just how focused he could be. And how wonderful it was to be the woman he was focusing on.

She looked up to see Sophie giving her a rueful little smile. "And, honestly, this might sound bad, but I try to remind myself that, statistically, he's more likely to get hit by a car than die on the job. And we all get into cars knowing the danger, right?"

"I suppose so."

All of Sophie's arguments made sense. Still, there remained a disconnect between what Megan's mind understood...and what her heart believed.

Sophie's eyes hadn't left her face. "Can I ask you something this time?"

Megan tried not to tense. "Of course."

"Have you seen Gabe again? Since the party, I mean."

"Yes," she said honestly.

Sophie smiled. "Good."

Megan braced for her friend to ask more questions, to try to get the whens and hows out of her. Instead, Sophie simply said, "Want to split a piece of chocolate cake?"

"Of course I do."

The two women grinned at each other and as soon as Sophie raised her hand in the waiter's direction, he sprinted over to see what the prettiest woman in the restaurant needed. And yet, Megan had the sense that Sophie was totally clueless as to the amount of attention the men around them were giving her.

For a few moments she debated keeping out of her friend's love life. But, then, what kind of girlfriend would she be? Besides, Sophie had already waded into things with her and Gabe, hadn't she?

The cake came quickly and as they both picked up their forks to dig into opposite sides, Megan asked, "Any luck with whatever sent you into the potting shed a couple of weeks ago?"

Sophie looked up at Megan in surprise. "The potting shed?" A moment later, her cheeks flamed. She shook her head. "No. I don't think luck is ever going to be in the cards on that front."

Megan frowned. "Are you dating anyone?"

Again, Sophie shook her head. "Not really. A couple of guys keep calling, but I'm not really interested."

Obviously, her friend was saving herself for someone. Again, Megan knew the easier thing was to back away from this discussion. It would be safer to talk about the weather or their plans for the weekend.

But Megan was tired of having acquaintances. She wanted real friends, women she could share tears and laughter with, women she could confide in.

Maybe it was time to step out on a limb.

"Is the guy you're interested in worth it, Sophie?"

Her friend covered her eyes with her free hand and made a sound that was a cross between a laugh and a sob .

She looked at Megan with such sad eyes that her stomach clenched. "Sometimes I'm sure that he is, but then other times...well, I have to wonder if I'm just fooling myself because I don't want to see who he really is."

Megan was heartbroken for Sophie for having fallen into what seemed to be unrequited love with a man who might not deserve it.

But even as she pushed the slice of cake a little closer to Sophie, and the two of them fed their careening emotional states with chocolate and carbs, she couldn't help but think about Gabe.

And the fact that he definitely was worth it.

Summer was bouncing on the playground as she waited for Megan to come pick her up from school .

"Glad to be back at school, huh?" she said as she ruffled the top of her daughter's blond hair.

"Guess where we went today for a field trip?"

Megan tried to remember what it had said on the permission slip she'd filled out a few months ago. But before she had a chance to guess, Summer opened her backpack and pulled out a plastic firefighter's hat.

"Oh," Megan said, her mouth suddenly dry. "Wow, how exciting."

"Gabe was there and he was so awesome showing us everything. We got to slide down the pole from the top bunks and hang out in the ambulance and sit in the seat s at the back of the truck."

During the short walk back to their apartment, Summer regaled Megan with firehouse stories. And as she started slicing cheese and apples for their afternoon snack, she couldn't stop thinking about one word.

Fate.

She'd never been a big believer in things like that, had always believed that solid decisions and hard work were what paid off. And they had.

But, really, it was getting to the point where it felt like the universe was screaming at her to pay attention!

"And, Mommy, he asked if you like roller coasters as much as I do."

Megan surfaced from her strange thoughts as she realized what Summer had just said. "And what did you tell him?"

"I said of course you do. That you aren't afraid of anything."

Megan put down the paring knife and went to put her arms around her daughter. "Thank you, honey."

As Summer hugged her back, so hard that her little arms shook with the force of it, she lifted her green eyes and said, "What for?"

"Just for being you."

And for believing in me when I sometimes forget to believe in myself.

A few minutes later, while Summer was eating her snack and coloring at the kitchen table, Megan picked up the wireless phone and walked into her bedroom, closing the door.

She forced herself not to hang up when voice mail kicked in. "Hi Gabe. It's Megan. I know you're still at the station working, but when you're back home and rested, I'd-"

She had to stop, had to take a breath, had to remember Summer saying, You aren't afraid of anything .

"I'd love to see you again. Maybe we could meet for lunch sometime during the week?" She added, "Sometime soon, I hope," before hanging up.

Chapter Twenty-four.

The next day, Gabe knocked on Megan's door. He'd been on a medical call when she'd left her message. As soon as he got back to the station and made it through his paperwork, he'd quickly started planning a surprise for her. One he hoped she'd love.

He'd missed her like crazy these past few days, had wanted to call her a hundred times. But he knew he couldn't push her, couldn't risk having her run, possibly for good this time. As he waited for her to contact him, he kept reminding himself that she hadn't said goodbye.

Instead, she'd told him she'd had fun...and she'd kissed him on the cheek.

Still, it had been a seriously sweet moment of relief when he'd heard her voice on his phone. But when she opened the door, gorgeous as always in a pair of jeans and a sweater, what he felt went so far past relief, past l.u.s.t, into uncharted territory, that he finally knew for sure.

He was in love with her.

Overwhelmed by the depth of emotions he felt for this beautiful woman standing in front of him, he probably would have just stood and stared at her for hours were it not for Megan reaching for his shirt, taking a handful of the material in her fist as she pulled him toward her.

He finally reacted, dragging her body against his just as she made a play for his mouth. They kissed as though it had been three years since they'd last seen each other rather than three days, clothes flying off all around them just as they had up on his roof.

s.e.x had never been this desperate a need before, had never been as vital as breathing, as necessary as food and water. But it wasn't just the quest for an o.r.g.a.s.m that drove them stumbling over to her couch, that had him ripping off her bra, yanking her panties down her legs, and dropping to his knees between her thighs.

It wasn't just that he wanted to give Megan pleasure, that he wanted to hear those s.e.xy little gasps and moans as he licked through her already wet folds and slid two fingers inside her clenching heat.

It was more than the contact high he got from her shuddering climax as he circled her c.l.i.t with his tongue, then sucked it in between his lips and took her over the edge.

Even that moment when he reared up over her, a condom already on, gripped her hips hard to pull her even closer, and drove into her, wasn't what his need was all about.

No, it went deeper than just the physical pleasure of being with the woman he loved.

Because, for the first time in his life, as Megan's head fell back against the couch, as her back arched and she wrapped her legs tightly around him, covering his hands with her own right before they both came apart in each other's arms, Gabe knew what it must have been like to be Adam.

To need to claim Eve as his.

Gabe looked with pleasure at Megan sitting beside him in his truck. He wanted her again even though barely fifteen minutes had pa.s.sed since they'd made love. It had been tempting to take her to bed and stay there all afternoon, but he knew she'd love his surprise. And he hoped there'd be many more days-and nights-of lovemaking in their future.

"I'm glad you called," he told her, not pausing before reaching for her hand, and was pleased when she slid her fingers between his.

"I am, too." She looked out the window. "Although I believe I'm the one who asked you to lunch, and here you are taking me off to some secret place."

He could tell from the excitement in her voice that she enjoyed being surprised. How, he had to wonder, would she like it if he took control of their lovemaking the next time? If he didn't tell her what he was going to do her, if he made her guess how he was going to make her come next?

They pulled into a dirt parking lot and he came around to help her out of the truck, his hand around her waist, enjoying the feel of her curves as he stood a little too close and made sure she slid down the length of his body.

Just as he hadn't stopped himself from holding her hand while they were driving, he didn't stop himself from kissing her now. Her mouth met his just as hungrily, her arms wrapping around his neck, her hands threading into his hair.

They'd kissed dozens of times before this-at least-but this kiss was different. He'd always known she wanted him, had always felt the strength of her desire for him. But now it was as if a lock had sprung open. Where it had almost been as if she was powerless to resist kissing him, now he got the strangest sense that she was kissing him for no other reason than because she wanted to.

When they finally came apart for air, she was smiling up at him. "I love kissing you, Gabe."

His mouth was back on hers a second later and they were off onto round two. Only the loud sound of a horn caused them to remember that they were in the middle of a public parking lot near a huge white tent.

"Where are we?" she asked.